Excavating and hoisting apparatus.



No. 705,317. Patented July 22, I902.

E. H. snowmna. I A EXCAVATING AND HOISTING APPARATUS.

(Application filed. July 23, 1900. Renewed Sept. 6, 1901.)

I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shale? o i o Wimesses, Lnufiufin,

44% JW- cLXW Wm /6./WMK 1 Patented July 22, I902. E. .H. BROWNING.

EXCAVATING AND HOISTING APPARATUS.

Application iled July 23, 1900, Renewed Sept. 6, 1901.)

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EARL H. BROWVNING, OF OLEVELANI), OHIO.

EXCAVATING AN D HOISTlNG APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettersilatent No. 705,317, dated July 22,1902.

Application filed July 23,1900. Renewed September 6, 1901. Serial No.74,576. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EARL H. BROWNING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Excavating and HoistingApparatus, of which the following is a'specific'a tion.

This invention relates in general to excavating and hoisting apparatus,and has particular reference to those machines which are intended foroperating clam-shell or orange peel buckets. In such machines it isnecessary to provide means for closing the bucket in order to fill thesame before it is lifted and also means for opening the bucket to dumpits contents before it is lowered'. This is usually effected by havingtwo ropes or cables, the one to close and lift the bucket and the otherto hold the bucket while it is dumping. In such cases it is necessary tohaul in on the bucket-closing cable a certain definite amount before thedumping-cable is moved, and in order to dump the bucket it is necessaryto hold the dumping cable and permit the bucket-closing cable to run offuntil the bucket is open, when both cables are thereafter run offtogether. In order to effect this result,I have invented the noveldevice shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a hoistingmachine having my invention applied thereto. Fig.2 is a sectional plan view'taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 8, and Fig. 3is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views.

While this invention is applicable to all machines-such as dredges,steam-shovels,or excavators-where clam-shell or orange-peel buckets areemployed, I have shown it as applied to a traveling1ocomotive-crane-that is to say, to a crane which operates whilestanding on a track upon which it travels by its own power back andforth as may be necessary to properly reach the material upon which itis operating. This track is represented in the drawingsby 1.

2 2 are the wheels of the traveling carriage, and .3 is the rotatingbase, which rests upon the carriage and is mounted onantifrictionrollers 4 in order that it may be turned about knownclam-shell or orange-peel type.

to bring the bucket into the desired position. Any proper gearing may beemployed for this purpose; but as this is no feature of my invention itis not deemed necessary to show the same-in this application. The craneis caused to move along the track by gearing the axles of'the carriageto the source of power in any suitable manner. As shown, a shaft 5 issecured to the carriage and is driven when desired from the engine onthe rotating base. This shaft is connected withone of the axles of thetraveling carriage by a driving chain or cable 6. Suitable means (notshown) willbe provided for reversing the direction of rotation of thisshaft, which reversal will result in changing the direction of motion ofthe crane along the track.

7 is the boiler from which steam is supplied to the engine 8. Thisboiler and engine may be of any proper and convenient type and do notrequire any further description. In fact, it may be found best undersome conditions to substitute other sources of power, which may be donewithout in any manner affecting the operation of the parts in whichreside my invention.

The engine is connected with and drives the shaft 9, which is journaledin the side pieces 10 11 of'the main-frame casting 12. Secured to thisshaft is a pinion 13, which meshes with a largegear-wheel-M on thebucket-closing drumshaft 15. Being mounted loosely on this shaft it willbe seen that this gear will normally turn without driving the shaft.

Keyed to the shaft 15, so as to be driven therewith, is thebucket-closing drum 16,11pon whichis wound the bucket-closing rope orcablo 17. Thiscable leads from the drum 16 to and over a sheave 18 nearthe outer end of theboom 19, an'd thence to the bucket 20. This bucketmay be of any form of the well-- one shown is substantially like the oneillustrated and described in thepatent to Hulett, No. 516,864, .March20, 1894, and need not be. specifically described here. The bucket isclosed by hauling in on the cable 17, which being secured to the disk 21turns the'same to close the bucket.

In order to drive the bucket-closing drumshaft 15 when desirable, it isnecessary to provide some form of clutch connection between The theshaft and the gear 14. As far as my invention is concerned, this clutchmay be of any suitable type. For purpose of illustration I have shown adisk 22, which is keyed to the shaft and is capable of a slighttransverse movement thereon. The outer face of this disk is formed tofit the adjacent face of the gear 14, so that when these faces arebrought into contact the shaft 15 will be driven with the gear. This iseffected by making the end of the shaft hollow and in placing therein aT-shape bar 23, which is capable of.

endwise movement. The arms of this bar extend outwardly through slots inthe shaft 15 and lie next the plain face of the disk 22. The bar ismoved longitudinally by any convenient means, as by a treadle 24,connectingrod 25, and bell-crank 26. It will be seen that by these meansthe operator can connect the bucket-closingdru in with the engine-shaft9 whenever he so desires.

As has been stated, it is necessary to close the bucket before thedumping mechanism is brought into operationthat is to say, in the deviceshown it is necessary to turn the bucket-closing drum an amountsufficient to insure the closure of the bucket before the dumping-drumis turned. To effect this, I have invented a simple device whichincludes the bucket-dumping shaft 27, also journaled in the side frames10 and 11. Keyed to this shaft near one end is a sheave-pulley 28, aboutwhich and one end of the bucket-closing drum 16 extends a driving-cable29. Instead of a single cable, as shown, I may use two or more cables ofa smaller size, or I may substitute ropes, chains, gear-wheels, or anyother equivalent driving means which will cause the shafts 15 and 27 toturn together. Mounted to turn loosely on the shaft 27 is thedumping-drum 30. This drum is made hollow and at each end is providedwith inwardlyprojectinghubs 31 for the purpose hereinafter explained.\Vithin the drum and between the hubs 31 the shaft 27 is threaded, andback and forth upon this threaded portion travels the nut 32. This nutis preferably of the form best seen in Fig. 3, with arms 33 projectingfrom diametrically opposite sides. These arms slide back and forth inguideways formed on the interior of the dumping-drum between the ribs34, the ribs holding the nut from turning except as the drum is driven.As the shaft 27 is turned the nut 32 being held against rotation withthe shaft is compelled to travel along the same until the nut abuts theend of one of the hubs 31. This checks the travel of the nut and forcesit to rotate with the shaft, and as the nut extends into the guidewaysof the drum the latter will also be forced to turn with the shaft, thusdrawing in the cable 35.

From this description it will be clear that the bucket-closing drum ispermitted to move a certain definite amount independently of thehoisting-druman amount a trifle more than is sufiicient to close thebucketin order that the weight of thebucket will be sustained by thebucket-closing cable. This will keep the bucket from opening while it isbeing hoisted.

After the bucket has been closed, filled, hoisted, and swung to thedesired position for unloading it is necessary to hold the dumping drumwhile the bucketclosing drum rotates backwardly to open the bucket. Thisis done by any practicable sort of brake, that shown in the drawingsconsisting of the brake-strap 36, which is tightened about thebrake-flange 37 by means of bell-crank levers 38, connecting-rod 39, andtreadle 40.

Assuming that the bucket is lowered and is in its position for filling,the operation is as follow: The operator bears down on treadle 24 andthrows the clutch-disk 22 into engagement with the driven gear 14, whichstarts the bucket-closing drum. This hauls in on the cable 17.Simultaneously the shaft 27 is turned by means of the cable 29 andsheavepulley 28, the dumpingdrum 30 remaining stationary owing to theweight of the bucket. Meanwhile the nut 32 is fed along the shaft untilan instant after the bucket is closed it contacts with the hub 31..Thereafter the two drums rotate in unison and both haul in on theirrespective cables. When the bucket is in position for dumping, theoperator bears down on the treadle 40 to hold the dumpingdrum, and atthe same time releases the clutchdisk 22. This releases thebucketclosing drum, which rotates in a reverse direction under theimpulse of the force due to the weight of the contents of the bucket,which tends to open the same. Meanwhile the shaft 27 has also beenrotating in a reverse direction, and just after the bucket is completelyopened the nut 32 reaches the opposite head 31 and engaging with thesame locks the drum 30 to its shaft and causes it to rotate in unisonwith the bucket-closing drum as the bucket is lowered.

In order to get the threaded shaft and nut 32 into the drum, it isnecessary to make one or both of the heads of the drum 3O removable. Asit is apparent how this may be done, itis not deemed necessary to showit in the drawlugs.

The crane is provided with the usual mast 41, with which are connectedthe boom-hoisting sheaves and ropes.

It will of course be understood that instead of using cables or ropes toclose and dump thebucket I may employ chains or any other equivalentmeans.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the character described, a rotatable shaft, a drumnormally loose on said shaft so that either may turn relatively to theother, means for locking the shaft and the drum together after arelative rotation of a predetermined amount, a clutch through whichpower is transmitted to the shaft to turn it and the drum in onedirection, and means for applying power to the drum to turn it and theshaft in the opposite direction when the clutch is released.

2. In a device of the character described, a rotatable shaft having athreaded portion, a closed drum normally loose on said shaft so thateither may turn relatively to the other, said drum surrounding thethreaded portion of the shaft, a nut engaging said threaded portion andturning with the drum whereby the nut is caused to travel longitudinallyof the shaft Within the drum whenthere is relative rotation between thedrum and the shaft, and stops formed on the drum to limit the travel ofthe nut and thus prevent further relative rotation between the drum andthe shaft. C

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of drums, means fordriving one of the drums, and means controlled by said driven drum forfirst permitting the remaining drum to remain stationary and thenturning the same after the driven drum has been turned a predeterminedamount.

4. In a device of the character described, a bucket, a closing drum forthe bucket, a shaft to which said drum is secured, a dumping-drum forthe bucket, a shaftupon which said dumping-drum isloosely mounted,meansconnecting said shafts to drive the same together, and means forconnecting the dumping-drum and its shaft so that one is driven afterthe other has turned a predetermined amount.

5. In a device of the character described, a

bucket, a closing-drum for the bucket, a

shaft to which said drum is secured, a dumping-drum for the bucket, ashaft upon which EARL H. BROWNING.

\Vitnesses:

- F. E. GILLMORE,

WALTER H. WHEELER.-

